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Click here to return to the Home Page The City Profile Rajkot is situated in the heart of the Saurashtra region of western India. The city was founded in the 16 century by Rajput Chief Kunvar Vibhoji Jadeja. Until the British in the early part of the 18th century brought about a permanent settlement, the city had seen continuing strife and clashes between the Rajputs and the representatives of the Mughal rulers. The city changed hands a number of times. From 1808 until its merger with the Indian Union, the Jadeja Rajput clan ruled Rajkot. Rajkot is the capital of Saurashtra and has a central location in the region being a part of Gujarat State. Its importance as a capital is attributed to its geographical location, its cultural heritage and the development potential possessed by the city. The present level of development is an outcome of the process of progressive development over many decades. It is a city that enjoys a position of importance in the field of trade, industry, education, transportation, communication, and entertainment.
With the process of urbanisation in the whole of India in the beginning of 20th century, Rajkot was also affected by the wave of urbanisation and industrialisation. The development of trade and industry gradually re-shaped the life of the people. In the early period the establishment of cloth mills in the city of Rajkot led to the development of new residential areas like Millpara, Harishchandra Plot, Gundawadi and Kewdawadi. The new railway station known as Bhaktinagar station also came into being. Later, new industrial estates, residential areas, schools, colleges and cinema houses were added with the process of urban growth. Independent India gave a further boost to development. There are number of small-scale industries within and surrounding the city. Besides industrial development, Rajkot is trade centre for the region. It is also a market for selling agriculture products. It is also very popular for real estate market because of continuous demand of land for housing and the commercial sector. It has Saurashtra Stock Exchange directly linked with Bombay, Calcutta and New Delhi Stock. Exchanges.
The major industries of the city are foundry, machine tools, oil engines, electroplating and printing. Other industries include home appliances, electric components, pharmaceuticals, manufacture of gold-silver jewellery and sari printing units. The climate of the city is hot and dry. The average maximum and minimum temperatures recorded over the last 40 years are 43.5 degree centigrade and 24.2 degree centigrade respectively. Average rainfall is around 500 mm.
Rajkot eventually became an important centre for trade and commerce with a wide network of transport facilities by air, railway and road. Rajkot Municipality was subsequently converted into a Municipal Corporation in 1973. Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) has the following statutory authorities under the Corporation Act: The authority exercised by each of these organs of administration is specific. While the General Body and the Standing Committee are vested with the powers of taking specified policy, decisions for the development of the city, the Municipal Commissioner as Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation is vested with executive and financial powers and is responsible for day-to-day administration of the Municipal Corporation.
In the Municipal Corporation, the elected wing takes decisions through collective wisdom by way of Boards/Committees. Though Rajkot city has witnessed ups and downs over the years, the general level of development, as can be noticed from the present status of the city, is very satisfactory and shows the record of past development despite water scarcity, financial constraints and controversies that naturally arise because of interaction of policies and the inter-relationship between the state and the local authorities. The rapid growth of Rajkot may be attributed to commercial expertise supported by good transportation and communication facilities. The growth of the city has taken place in almost all directions, as there is no physical barrier leading to continuous growth of the town. The municipal limits have been extended from time to time. The city area was extended from 38 sq. km. to 69 sq. km. in 1963. In 1998 surrounding 3 villages Mavdi, Nana Mava & Raiya have been added to Municipal limit increasing area from 69 sq. km. to 104.86 sq. km. The above urban area covers 22 (14+8) town planning schemes. The incessant process of urbanisation and rapid industrialisation has increased the population of Rajkot. From 132, 000 in 1951, the population figure rose to 10,02,000 in 2001 registering a growth rate of about 323 percent in four decades. Though the population has grown by leaps and bounds the corresponding provision of housing facilities has not kept abreast. Shortage of housing facilities has contributed to the emergence of slums.
Rajkot Municipal Corporation being a local government is responsible for providing basic infrastructure services including water supply, drainage, roads, street lights, waste management, fire brigade, slum management, Urban Town Planning, preventive healthcare, public health, regulation of land use, planning for economic and social development and parks and library services. Rajkot city with the population of 1 million plus has present water demand of 135 MLD. This is supplied through 122000 trap connections, 2100 stand posts and 550 tankers. Rajkot Municipal Corporation is making highest efforts to make water available for supply in city. Presently it is supplying 110 MLD of water, which is 90 MLD during scarcity period. RMC is draws water from various surface reservoir viz. Nyari-I, Nyari. There are 4 filtration plants viz. Ribda. Aji. Nyari and Ghanteshwar with total filtration capacity of 110 MLD. The water supply distribution system is divided into 4 zones viz. Jubilee, Gurukul, Nyari and Aji. RMC charges annually and bills are served category wise. The system of water charge bills is computerized and looked after by tax officer.
The Rajkot city under-ground drainage project was framed in 1981 and was accepted by World Bank. The project was delayed due to difficulties in excavation and other contractual problems. Phase-1 is completed in all respect and 80,000 connections have been released so far. Sewerage treatment plant with 44.5 MLD capacity and 7 pumping stations are under operation. The existing drainage network consists of 410 km long network of collective system, 7000 number of manholes and 7 intermediate pumping stations. The Phase-1 project covers only 60 sq. km. The population covered is 60% of the city.
The responsibility of solid waste management in the city lies with health department of Rajkot Municipal Corporation under the supervision of Medical Officer of Health and attempt is also made to start a separate solid waste management department under the supervision of Environment Engineer. The total waste generated in the city is approximately 500 Metric Tonnes per day. Rajkot Municipal Corporation does not have any facility for processing the solid waste. It has two landfill sites viz. Sokhada having an area 11 acres of land, 12 km away from the city and Manda dungar 2.5 acres, 7 km away from the city. Both the land fill sites are about to take fill fully and RMC has already put forward a proposal for new landfill site with Government of Gujarat for 40 acres of another landfill site near Nakrawadi, 15 km away from the city.
Privatisation is introduced in the primary collection (sweeping) and secondary collection activities of the Corporation. The work involves collection of Solid Waste from all the collection sites and transporting it to the waste disposal site. Twelve out of the twenty-three wards have been privatised so far for primary collection, transportation.
The Corporation runs 4 dispensaries and 6 urban family welfare centres. There are three ayurvedic dispensaries that are run by NGO's on behalf of RMC. Besides these there are 3 mobile dispensaries are run by NGO under supervision of RMC. Rajkot Municipal Corporation provides street lighting facilities. There are 25,000 tube lights, 2700 sodium vapour lamps and 4000 mercury lamps. The main intersections have been provided with high mast lamps. In some of the wards the maintenance work of streetlights has been contracted out. It is one of the most important services provided by Rajkot Municipal Corporation. The different services includes:
 The city is affected by wave of rapid Industrialization and urbanization and many people from surrounding region started coming to Rajkot for employment and education increasing the population resulting in high growth rate of 48% during last decades. The substantial increase in the city's population made city stretch in every direction without planned layout. Many of the public open spaces and riverbanks are occupied by poor quality dwellings of migrants resulting in the growth of more slums & squatter settlements.
To manage the problem of housing for urban poor, Rajkot Municipal Corporation has under taken projects involving construction of houses, innovative solution for funding, community mobilization etc. leading to sustainable and affordable solution, keeping in view that community needs affordable housing with proper sanitary conditions - not so that poor people can move in, but so that people already living and working here don't have to move out of the city For the economically backward class of people low cost housing schemes have been undertaken by Rajkot Municipal Corporation at an affordable cost and a monthly repayment scheme.
Two housing schemes have been completed so far with the financial help of HUDCO involving construction 3012 units in 1998 & 960 units is 2001. For the second housing scheme (rehabilitation of slums at Dharmnagar) RMC has received HUDCO Award of Rs.45,000 under low cost housing competition (Urban) 2001-2002. The third scheme is at execution stage for construction of 856 units. World Bank & HUDCO assistance has encouraged RMC to develop human settlement projects that offer sustainable development for urban poor for providing practical & imaginative solution to current housing problem.
 To provide entertainment and sports facilities to the citizens of Rajkot, Rajkot Municipal Corporation has developed Race Course Area which comprises Step Garden, Children Traffic Park, children entertainment facilities, Planetarium, Indoor Stadium, Swimming Pool, Regional Community Science Center, Art Gallery and Garden. There is a facility of playing various indoor games viz. Badminton, Carom, Tennis, Squash including Health Club. The Stadium is of Olympic Standards. Besides these the facility for playing loan tennis is also provided. The Race Course also has an international Cricket ground which is many a time used for International matches.
The renovation work of swimming pool is under progress. The Balbhavan Area inside Race Course is main attraction for children. Many entertainment facilities including roller skating rink, basketball ground, scientific park, aquarium, small zoo, different varieties of birds, boating facilities are being provided for children. Standard size athletic ground is provided and maintained by RMC including Hockey and Football grounds in the Race Course premises. An Art Gallery for exhibition of different varieties of arts is provided in this premise. It is decided to convert this art.  Slum Development ProgrammeThe population has grown by leaps and bounds and the corresponding provision of housing facilities has not kept abreast. Shortage of housing facilities has contributed to the emergence of slums. At present there are 74 recognised slum localities with an approximately population of approx. 2,00,000 inside the city Municipal limits. The substantial increase in the city's population after independence made the city stretch in every direction without a planned layout. The city started experiencing ribbon development along the transportation corridors with poor quality dwellings. Many of the public open spaces and river banks were occupied by migrants. A large number of huts were erected without any supporting infrastructure facilities. Establishment of industries in some areas fostered the growth of many more slums and squatter houses in their vicinity. In spite of many physical developmental schemes undertaken by the government, the slums became an unavoidable part of the city. Thus, the layout of Rajkot, which was well planned in the gridiron pattern with some open spaces as lungs and a river bank water-front, started decaying with the emergence of slums. Presence of squatter settlements made the city areas over-crowded, polluted the environment and deteriorated the standards of living of the people. The population in the slums varies from one locality to another.
Religion and caste play an important role in the social structure of the Rajkot slums. This is normal from the nomenclature itself. Certain slum pockets are known by the caste of its inhabitants. The majority (almost 90 per cent) of the slum dwellers are Hindus, the remaining being Muslims & Christians. In Rajkot slums, children below school going age form 8.91 per cent and older children (above 6 years) form 3.67 per cent of the total population. The age group 5-17 predominantly consist of school going children and account for 22.7 per cent of the total population. Primary and secondary education is free of cost. Rajkot Municipal Corporation runs 95 schools with Nagar Prathmik Sikshan Samiti. Most of these schools are situated nearby slum areas so that the children from slum area can get the benefit. Adult education programmes are being arranged under the UBS project through NGOs.
Many government schemes like "Suvarna Jayanti Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY)", training centres, for ladies, daughter scheme, widow women helping scheme, etc. are implemented by Rajkot Municipal Corporation funded by Municipal Finance Board. The increasing density of traffic has manifested into a number of problems like congestion, delays, accidents, environmental pollution etc. More important, the potential gridlock threatens the economic vitality and productive efficiency of the city. It is important to plan, develop, operate and manage the transport system of the city to promote the economic efficiency and social cohesion in the city. For comprehensive study of traffic problems of the city and to evolve feasible solutions to the many problems, Rajkot Municipal Corporation under the aegis of Urban Development and Urban Housing Department, Government of Gujarat and supported by Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, GOI have initiated a short term traffic and transportation improvement plan for the city of Rajkot. M/s Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi was appointed to carry out the study including the assessment of feasibility of an integrated mass transportation system for the study area.
The short-term traffic and transportation plan has provided the recommendations for implementation in three phases:
Rajkot Municipal Corporation has already started implementing the recommendations of Rapid Action Plan by developing and improving the road intersections. Many roads have been converted into one-ways. Proper road markings and signs have been provided at important road sections and junctions. The work for other recommendations is also in progress. The city of Rajkot was facing huge water crises in the year 1999. The normal annual rainfall in this region is around 500 to 550 min. As against well of 200 mm dia and 200 mtrs deep was about 0.3 to 0.50 MLD. In this region 80 sq kms of wasteland is available where bores were drilled. As the ground water was only lifeline, Emergency Water Supply Scheme for drawing 40 MLD of water based on 120 nos. of bore wells was implemented jointly by GWSSB and RMC. And a pipeline was executed from Wankaner taluka to the Rajkot City. From this portion covering 16 km of 600 min MS pipeline, 11 km of 508 mm MS pipeline, a sump of 2 million litres capacity with 6 pumping sets and 2 generator sets were executed by RMC. RMC is also bearing the maintenance cost including the electricity charges. The 120 nos. of bore wells were drilled in the cluster of 15 bore wells.
The total cost of Rajkot emergency water supply scheme was Rs 6798.30 lacs gross. The annual 0 & M cost of the scheme is Rs 550.00 lacs. The above water supply scheme is of temporary nature and after the scarcity is over, would be immediately discontinued and usable material would be used in other schemes. As far as possible, the pipeline was laid above the ground level, so cost of excavation could be saved. The total recoverable cost of material is Rs 3626.00 lacs. This is a small check dam constructed on river Bhakharwadi near village Lapasari 8 km away from Rajkot city. About 50 McFt water from this Check Dam will be diverted to Aji river in every monsoon. This dam is constructed with a financial-aid from "Rotary International Club". The city of Rajkot lies in semi-arid region. The rainfall is low and scanty, the average being 500 mm. For the last 3 years, the rainfall is even less than average and the city is dependent upon the ground water form the bore wells drilled in the Wakaner region, 80 km away from the city. As there are no permanent surface water sources nearby the city, the only permanent source is to avail the water from Sardar Sarovar Project. For this a Maliya Branch Canal Project is planned, which is under progress. In this project the Narmada Water from Sardar Sarovar will reach through Saurashtra main canal up to Maliya and from Maliya to Hadala through canal and from Hadala to Rajkot by pipeline. After the completion of Sardar Sarovar project, sufficient quantity of water will be available, which will help to solve the water problem of the Rajkot city a great extent.
8.5 million people of Saurashtra region will get water for domestic use and 2196 million sq mts land will get water for irrigation after the completion of Sardar Sarovar Project. The local bodies of our country are facing major problem of lack of financial and human resources to manage the breakneck growth of the cities. Few years back Rajkot was also experiencing the same. It is then that the corporation took some of the timely and bold measures to combat the problems, which have emerged with the wake of urbanisation. The Corporation has now pioneered the art of "Privatisation". NGOs have been involved in the services like Crematorium, Dispensaries, Libraries, Planetarium, Science Centre etc. while the contractors are involved in Parks, Solid Waste Management, Street Lights Maintenance, Security and Amusement Parks. This has opened new avenues for the corporation to reduce the expenditure of establishment while allowing for better management and quality services. Rajkot city has twin city agreement with Leicester city of UK since December 1996. This agreement is made in recognition of the common interest, concerns and historical ties which link the people of the cities of Rajkot and Leicester, in the firm belief that the contacts and friendships established through the twinning can contribute to international peace and understanding, and an expression of the desire of both cities to promote friendship and peace between all citizens of the world.
Under this agreement both sides will undertake to carry out, promote and support exchanges and cooperation in a wide range of areas of common interest in the public, private, voluntary and community sectors aimed at deepening links between local people in the two cities in the fields of education, training, culture, leisure, economy, science youth and women's issues, voluntary and grass roots development and civic management. A Leicester corner has been established at Corporation Library which displays the reading material regarding various issues and stories of Leicester.
European commission has sanctioned a project for economic and social development through community participation in Water and Waste Management on experimental basis in city of Rajkot. Rajkot Municipal Corporation is one of the local partners for implementation of the project. Besides Rajkot, other two European partners are Dublin city Ireland and Leicester city of UK. European commission has sanctioned a grant of Rupees 25 millions.  With regard to the all-round development of city Rajkot Municipal Corporation has reserved certain plots for commercial & other developmental activities as per the rules of the town planning schemes. Rajkot Municipal Corporation took initiative to develop one of its reserved plots located in Ward No.10 where there was a necessity of commercial development. The project was planned & constructed in the form of two community halls, having capacity of 1000 people each, commercial complex comprising of 122 no. of shops & 80 no. of offices a large terrace of gathering & parking facilities.
The project has been developed on basis on Public Private Partnership in which the land owned by Municipal Corporation was contracted out to the builder for development. The developer constructed the building and has handed over the two community halls and a sum of Rs. 115 lakhs to the corporation. The developer was given right to sell the shops & offices. The total benefit to RMC in this project is Rs. 178.85 lacs. Rajkot Municipal Corporation has to its credit four national level awards
Race Course Garden: This is the largest garden located in the heart of city area. It has number of attractions for children viz. Bhalbhavan, Children Traffic Park, Fun World.  Mukti-dham - A Crematorium: This is an electric crematorium located in Ramnath para area. It is run and maintained by NGO under grant by Rajkot Municipal Corporation. It has number of small temples, prayer halls., beautiful garden which attracts number of people.
Community Science Center and Planetarium: Community Science Center arranges different programmes, workshops, seminars related to science and maths for children. It has also many schemes for educating the people residing in slum areas regarding burning issues like Aids etc. It is run and maintained by an NGO. Planetarium is constructed in 1992. Different audio-video shows are being arranged for the citizens and visitors for getting the idea and information about the planets, their positions, movements and their effects on nature.  Swaminarayan Temple: This temple is built in 1998-99 by Swaminarayan Sampradaya. It is situated on fast developing Kalavad Road near Mahila College.
 Kaba Gandhi no delo: This house was build by father Mahatma Gandhi in 1880-81. It is situated near Dharmendra Road market. This house is purchased by State Government and has been declared as National Monument. Gandhiji lived in this house from 1881 to 1887 during his study at Rajkot. Wattson Museum: This museum was started in 1888 in Jubilee Garden premises of Rajkot. It has great collection ancient Indian handicrafts and historical items.
Rajkumar College: This school was built in 1870 specifically for the education of Prince of different states of India. It is situated on Gondal road behind shastri maidan near Malaviya chowk.  Alfred High School: This school was constructed during British rule in India by political agent Mr. Kernal Singh. This was the first English school in the state where Mahatma Gandhi studied. Previously it was known as Alfred High School and after Gandhiji took his primary education in the school it is named as "Mohandas Gandhi School".
 Ramkrishna Ashram: This temple was built in 1934 on the land donated by Late Shri Dharmendrasinhji, then king of Morbi state. It is situated on Dr. Yagnik road of Rajkot. It is second most important place for followers of Swami Vivekanand after Kolcatta. Aji Dam: This dam is build by Government of Gujarat for water supply to city area. The down stream side of the darn and surrounding area is developed and maintained by Rajkot Municipal Corporation. A beautiful step garden with amusement park for children, zoo, bird aviary, crocodile park have been provided for entertainment of the citizens of the city.
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Contact: Maganbhai P. Patel, Chair, LRTA, Room x106 Town Hall, Leicester, England. Email:info@leicester-rajkot.org |